Friday night just always seems like a pizza night! From Bobby Flay's television show, Grill It! this is flat bread pizza on the grill. In his book Boy Meets Grill, Bobby gives us the go-ahead to use some store-bought pizza dough. Someday I will try to make the dough from scratch using Bobby's recipe, but for today I wanted to get dinner ready faster (the NCAA was on). Bobby puts the dough right on the grill grates - but I guess I have not been that adventurous yet - I still use a cookie sheet. I first grilled a sirloin steak. Sirloin is a leaner cut of beef, which means less fat, but also less flavor and less juicyness. When I am just eating a steak I prefer a strip or rib-eye that has more marbling of fat and therefore flavor, but sirloin is still terrific and would only be one of the ingredients on the flat bread pizza. I rolled out the dough and pushed it into the four corners of the cookie sheet. Dorothy thinly sliced some roma tomatoes and we spaced them out all over the dough. Next came thin slices of the sirloin followed by a cheese explosion: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Romano, Mozzarella, and Monterey Jack. Then over the top I drizzled a Basil Oil that I whipped together in the processor. It was just fresh basil leaves, salt, ground pepper and olive oil. You can see in the photo that the oil is infusing in the cheese and the crust is getting toasty. I kept the grill on low heat and the dough baked and the cheese melted in about 15 minutes.
What to Drink? Pizza Wine! I understand that beer and pizza is the traditional combination, and I can't argue that it can be a great match - but try a red blend next time with pizza and see what you think. We had a St. Francis Red which was a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel. St. Francis is in Sonoma County California and it is a great winery to visit. We went there a couple years ago. St. Francis is the patron saint of small animals and pets - we brought home a couple bottles of St. Francis and two holy metals that our two Collies now wear on their collars. It was at St. Francis that I decided it would be very cool to work for a Northern California winery in the wine tasting room - maybe a retirement job. I think it would be great to just talk to people all day about wine. Everyone is always in a good mood. There are no disgruntled customers at a wine tasting. This particular red blend from St. Francis was just perfect with the steak and cheese and crusty pizza. Grill a flatbread and open a St. Francis Red and its a party.
The weather was finally spring-like and to celebrate we took Allegre out of her slip. We packed a picnic, crossed the lake, found an isolated island cove, dropped the sails and threw the Danforth anchor overboard. So here is an interesting question. Who in the photo is closer to heaven?
The guy flying the airplane (contrails seen through the rigging) or the guy laying on a sailboat. I have been both guys before at different times. I guess the answer depends on which one you are doing at the moment. Grilling is pretty close too. More near-misses with heaven from the sky, water and grill to come! Paul
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